Dyal Singh College (Eve) name not changed: DU

NEW DELHI: Delhi University has said the name of Dyal Singh (Evening) college has not been changed amid uproar after a banner identified the institution as “Vandematarm Dyal Singh College” at its annual day.

HRD minister Prakash Javadekar on Wednesday said the government will not allow the college to be renamed and will take action against its management for “doing so without consent”.

“I want to make it clear that the name of Dyal Singh college will not change. It has not changed and no permission will be given. If there are two Dyal Singh colleges, the management can only decide to call them 1 and 2 or A and B to differentiate. Strict action will be taken against the management,” he said.

Dyal Singh Majithia, a philanthropist, willed his wealth in 1895 to set up an education trust and in 1910, Dyal Singh College was established in Lahore. After partition, the college was established in Karnal and in Delhi. It started functioning in Delhi as a constituent College of DU in 1959 and made a university maintained institution in 1978.

DU registrar Tarun Das said in a statement, “It is hereby clarified that the University of Delhi has not changed the name of Dyal Singh (Evening) College.”

A top DU official said the proposal for name change has not been approved by the university statutory bodies and without it, the college cannot use any new name to identify itself.

Last November, the governing body had decided to rename the college as “Vande Mataram Mahavidyalaya” after the college was turned into a regular shift college.

The move was opposed by a section of students, teachers and activists. The HRD minister said in the Rajya Sabha that the gov- ernment was neither involved in the decision, nor did it approve of it and put the decision on hold.

A source in the principal office said the name was mentioned in that way – “Vande Mataram Mahavidyalaya” – on a poster on its annual day on April 25.

Principal Pawan Kumar Sharma refused to comment and said only governing body chairman Amitabh Sinha can do so. Amitabh Sinha did not respond to calls and text messages.

Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) general secretary Manjinder Singh Sirsa objected to the move.

Dyal Singh (evening) college shares campus in central Delhi’s Lodhi area with Dyal Singh College. Their GB is the same but they have separate staff.

Union food minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal said she briefed prime minister Narendra Modi and requested that the college’s GB chairman be sacked for hurting the sentiments of the Sikh community.